Been with team for a month

By Chris Miller-Prep Sports Writer

Published: Wednesday, June 19, 2013 at 11:00 AM.

She helped Swansboro to state titles in 2006 and 2009, emerging as the team leader as a senior during the latter run toward the championship. Dail was named to the all-state team and awarded The Daily News offensive player of the year honor as a senior.

Dail then had a four-year career at Charlotte. In her final season with the 49ers last season, the midfielder started all 20 games and finished the season second in goals scored with six while tying for the team lead in assists with five.

After the 49ers ended their season, Dail looked into playing for different clubs. The process went slow and Dail thought she was done playing soccer. That is, until she received some help from former Charlotte teammate Samantha Huecker.

“I was talking to some Finnish teams and had some promising chances, but nothing was falling into place. One team even invited me over to a tryout, but it was during school so I could not do it,” Dail said.

“This was something that I had been trying to figure out all spring. (But) one of my old teammates was playing in Sweden and when her coach asked if there were any American players, my name came up and the communication began.

“It was slow at first and I did not really think it was actually going to happen since I had been talking to several teams before. But on the last day of my student teaching internship, I got the email that they wanted me to come play. It was two weeks before graduation.”

And while playing in the pros is quite an accomplishment, there are differences between playing professionally in America and playing in another country.

Carrie Dail called her new career as a professional soccer player a “great experience.”

And the former Swansboro High School and Charlotte standout certainly has good reason to feel that way since joining the Tierps IF of the Division I Norra Svealand League in Sweden last month.

“I have really enjoyed playing with the girls here. Soccer is different, but great,” Dail said. “The players here understand soccer better and play the game the way it is supposed to be played. I am beyond thankful for this opportunity.

“Even after being here a month, I still think, ‘Is this real?’ I still cannot believe that I am playing soccer in Sweden.”

For Dail, playing professionally is simply a dream come true, although she said she didn’t think the opportunity would come to her.

“I thought about it. … I think most athletes dream of playing professional from the time they begin playing sports,” she said in an email to The Daily News, “but never really thought it would happen for me. I am just happy to be able to keep playing soccer.”

Dail, who is from Hubert, finds herself with the Tierp IF after a standout career at Swansboro and at NCAA Division I Charlotte.

She helped Swansboro to state titles in 2006 and 2009, emerging as the team leader as a senior during the latter run toward the championship. Dail was named to the all-state team and awarded The Daily News offensive player of the year honor as a senior.

Dail then had a four-year career at Charlotte. In her final season with the 49ers last season, the midfielder started all 20 games and finished the season second in goals scored with six while tying for the team lead in assists with five.

After the 49ers ended their season, Dail looked into playing for different clubs. The process went slow and Dail thought she was done playing soccer. That is, until she received some help from former Charlotte teammate Samantha Huecker.

“I was talking to some Finnish teams and had some promising chances, but nothing was falling into place. One team even invited me over to a tryout, but it was during school so I could not do it,” Dail said.

“This was something that I had been trying to figure out all spring. (But) one of my old teammates was playing in Sweden and when her coach asked if there were any American players, my name came up and the communication began.

“It was slow at first and I did not really think it was actually going to happen since I had been talking to several teams before. But on the last day of my student teaching internship, I got the email that they wanted me to come play. It was two weeks before graduation.”

And while playing in the pros is quite an accomplishment, there are differences between playing professionally in America and playing in another country.

The 22-year-old Dail said she was concerned about the “communication barrier” and culture differences but that she was excited about the opportunity to learn the way of life away from the United States.

“Since my sophomore year of college, I have really wanted to travel,” she said. “This has given me that opportunity.”

Dail signed with the Tierps IF on “a season-to-season contract.” She doesn’t know how long she will continue playing pro soccer in Sweden but enjoys every minute of it now.

And Dail has made quite an impression with her new team. In five matches, she had three goals and an assist for Tierps IF, which is 7-1 in the Norra Svealand League, good for second place in the 12-team league.

Dail, who wears the No. 33, showed early in her career that she could play well in the pro ranks.

Making her debut with her new club in the second half of a game against Korsnas IF FK on May 18, Dail scored after just five minutes of being on the field.

“It was very exciting,” Dail said. “It was a relief to me and I think to my team as well. It is nice to start things off on a good foot, and I was very thankful that things were working in my favor on that day.”

Overall, Dail just hopes to provide her new team with that she gave Swansboro and Charlotte: A hard working player.

“I bring speed, technical skills, passing and hard work,” she said. “I try to work hard to help out my team the best that I can.”